


Boarded

by FeatherQuilt88



Series: Dragon's Brood [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Do Not Mess with the Dragon of the West, Family, Gen, Pirates, Post-Canon, protective parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 02:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18907996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatherQuilt88/pseuds/FeatherQuilt88
Summary: So close to the shores of their home now, Fire Lord Zuko and his uncle must defend their ship--and their new little family member--from a pirate attack!





	Boarded

**Author's Note:**

> Vola, Key, Panuk, and Sigin are more of my fancharacters, while "Xun" and "Jing-Sheng" are meant to be the main two pirate canon characters from the episodes "The Waterbending Scroll" and "The Waterbending Master." As far as I know, they weren't given any canon names, so I made those up for them.

Just over a year ago, the Fire Nation's Admiral Zhao had paid them handsomely to assassinate Prince Zuko. Unexpectedly, the boy had lived through the blast. But that didn't matter--they had gotten their gold anyway. And now he was worth a great deal more, alive. Fire Lord Zuko was one of the most valuable players in the world's new game of peace.

_Imagine what the world would pay to keep it that way._

Captain Xun surveyed his crew. He and all of the others present during that last attack were non-benders, of Earth Kingdom stock--though they held loyalty to no nation, no element. Rather unlike their new acquisitions--four brusque but effective Waterbenders. The aged but spry Vola and the semi-young Key were a mother and daughter, who had lost their husband and father to the war, they had said. Panuk and Sigin, the burly middle-aged twins, had reasons known only to themselves.

They were all four out for Fire blood, ANY Fire blood. They had left their tribe after the other people of Water had started making _peace_ with their "foul enemy." Vola, Key, Panuk, and Sigin did not believe in _peace,_ they had said, spitting the word from their mouths like it was poison. They wanted _revenge._ And they would take it upon any and all Fire Nationals they came across--benders or non-benders, soldiers or civilians. To them, the people of Fire were completely sub-human.

Sometimes the four Waterbenders scared Xun a bit. But they were extremely effective at what they did, using the element of the sea to the pirates' advantage, both in propulsion and in battles. Strange how it was their _lack_ of bending ability that had brought the Earth marauders together--their skill in traditional arms, and their lack of fear for the water, setting them apart from their Earthbending kin. But _Waterbenders_ \--they were _born_ pirates, if only something set their minds to it. And apparently the war had done just that.

The Earth crew used to trade with all manner of unwary customers, but now that the four Waterbenders were aboard, no sales to Fire people were possible, lest a mutiny break out. That was okay--pirating exclusively from rich-laden Fire vessels, a little ways out from the archipelago's coast, was a fine living now. Xun and his crew took the Fire Nation's treasures and sold them to any unscrupulous Earth or Water customers they could find, anyone who didn't care about the this "glorious new era of peace" (or who were simply stupid enough to be tricked).

And now, Xun had set his sights on quite possibly the most valuable prize the Fire Nation had to offer. If all went according to plan... they could _retire,_ after today. He smirked beneath his wide-brimmed hat, rubbing the neck-ruff of his iguana-parrot.

"Jing-Sheng!" he finally barked, as the Fire Nation vessel came closer into view. "Is everyone in position to board?"

"All ready, Captain," Xun's first mate saluted with an evil grin, his greasy black hair tousled above his green headband, as the winds whipped fuller.

As the winds filled the traditional sails of their junk, allowing it to now _overtake_ the steam-powered Fire vessel, chugging at its solid but somewhat more predictable pace.

***

Two hours away from home. _Only two hours away,_ and then something like this had happened. Land wasn't quite in sight yet--Fire Lord Zuko's ship could not put out a distress signal that would be seen by Capital City, or by any other surrounding port. The crew could almost _taste_ the air of their nation, and yet they would have to fight the pirates on their own.

For Chiko, this was like a nightmare. She had _just gotten her new family_ \--Lord Zuko and Sir Iroh, now "Big Ko" and "Bapa" to her, had taken the little girl into their arms, laughing and crying, all three of them overcome with joy. And now, mere minutes afterward, their whole world had turned deathly tense and serious.

The two men had kissed her cheeks and squeezed her tight, telling her not to worry, to just _stay there in the cockpit with Helmsman Reeza, no matter what happened._ But even in her six-year-old innocence, Chiko could tell that Iroh and Zuko were just putting on brave faces for her sake.

Waiting here in the ship's high tower, while looking through its main window--watching her sweet new cousin and her _precious_ new father march out on deck with the other defenders--was torture to the mite. She hugged her handkerchief-doll, Rei, as if wishing Iroh's tea-stains would magically bring him back to her side. She prayed to Heaven that her new family would be kept safe. And she wondered if Mommy was watching over them all, right then. That thought was the only thing that even began to comfort her.

Chiko's amber eyes looked up to find Shur's brown ones. Zuko's butler was the only other true non-combatant aboard, and so had been sent to huddle up there in the steering-booth with the little girl. "I'm scared too," the youngish servant told the child, softly and sadly, steadying her tiny shoulders with his hands. Chiko whimpered.

The formidable Reeza did her duty, staying with the wheel to keep the ship on-course. Three non-bender guards flanked her and the helpless ones' sides, armed with spears. All the rest of the crew had gathered below, to protect the tower from the outside. A somber hush had fallen over them, when the two former Fire princes had walked out from the entrance.

They were in their breastplates again.

Iroh and Zuko had not had time to change out of their soft red silks, but they had found their tailored armor--so like the pieces they had left behind nearly a year ago, when Azula had intercepted them at the spa town. Iroh had hoped he and his adoptive son would never have to strap on the burnished leather again. His old amber eyes had wavered, as they looked deeply into the golden ones.

 _I'm here,_ came the unspoken reassurance. He had put his broad hand on Zuko's shoulder, as the boy finished attaching the last hitch of his own armor to the shoulders of his robe. _I will do everything I can to protect you, my dear child._

Even though Zuko, too, was silent, the meaning radiating from his scarred young face was equally clear. _We will protect EACH OTHER._

 _And the little girl who has grown so precious to us both,_ came the old gray nod.

_Yes. She is counting on us._

The Fire Lord and his uncle assumed bender battle-stances, palms extended. Around them reared a forest of fellow Firebenders doing the same, and non-benders brandishing spears and swords.

Thirty seconds until the pirate ship was in range.

***

The plan Xun had given to his crew was risky, but fairly straightforward--and would be highly lucrative, if successful. The Waterbenders were to separate the prime targets from the rest of the crew, washing them overboard with a wave onto the pirates' own ship. Current legend though he had become, surely that hotheaded, adolescent prince Xun remembered would not be _too_ much of a hassle for his four fierce Water Tribesmen to bait and herd. And if his dotard companion, that fat old man who apparently was a prince himself, could be caught in the same trap, all the better--even dethroned royal blood was valuable.

The steering-booth of the Fire vessel would be overtaken, the ship thrown off-course, and explosives planted in its engine room. Ransom notes would be left for the survivors to deliver to Capital City, once they finally made it there in their pathetic little lifeboats. By that time, Xun and his crew would be well away to their island hideout--one of the many tiny, uninhabited dots of land scattered out here, before the proper bulk of the archipelago.

Fire Lord Zuko's company braced themselves as the pirates swung over from the junk, landing in their midst with fierce yells and sword-clashes. Chaos ensued--but there was more method in it than some of the Fire crew realized. Several of Xun's pirates were creating a pathway, for three of their number to carry in the explosives from a nearby skiff.

Capt. Karou and Lt. Yumi spotted them. "Hey!!"

Yumi knocked a nearby pirate aside with her spear, his tattered robes ripping on its sharp edge. Her Firebending battle-partner, meanwhile, let loose a ball of flame, aiming at the barrel-carriers who, unbeknownst to him, were lugging blasting-powder.

_Kaboom!!!_

The barrel Karou had hit was thankfully not close enough to any crewmen that they died in the blast--it had, in fact, tumbled from one of the pirates' backs before his flames had touched it. But its shockwave was powerful enough that everyone within its radius fell violently flat on the deck, or overboard. Small pieces of metal scattered amongst the wooden debris. Yumi and Karou stared in shock at the ship's siderail, now gaping open in one section, a smoking half-moon of a bite taken out of it.

The pirates who had been part of the "blasting committee" floundered in the waves below, along with all their other explosive barrels, now bobbing semi-harmlessly in the water. Karou's black mustache parted as he grinned broadly. "That'll keep them busy for a while!" he winked at the also-grinning Yumi, as the two stared over the wreckage.

Capt. Xun and his own partner Jing-Sheng, meanwhile, were not grinning at all when they heard the premature BOOM. They couldn't know whether all the blasting-powder was wasted or not, but they hadn't the time to check--these Firebenders and guards hemming them in fought very fiercely. A flying ember had already claimed the feather in his hat, and Jing-Sheng had taken a sword-slash to the cheek. Xun wondered how the next stage of their plan was progressing....

***

The far back end of Lord Zuko's ship was relatively calm compared to the action taking place on the main deck. Only two Fire crewmen had found their way there, around the smokestacks and the solid wall of the tower. Its entrance, of course, was well-guarded in the front, hemmed all around by the two royal Firebenders and their entourage. These two crewmen were almost ready to run back to the fringes of the main battle--when suddenly, an unnaturally long, thin surge of water splashed over them.

And immediately froze. They were trapped in ice all the way up to their nostrils, unable to even cry for help.

Vola and Key scowled and ignored them. _Come back for you later._ They and their Earth allies, in this second, tiny skiff from the pirate junk, prepared their grappling hooks. The two Waterbenders sent icicle-knives raining through one of the topmost tower windows--and one of the very few on the back side. It was not quite as high as the cockpit, but it was close. No normal ropes could be thrown that far up, which was probably why the back of the tower had been left unguarded--but ropes lifted ever higher, by small streams of water...?

***

Zuko and Iroh stood together, sending wave after wave of flame hurtling towards their adversaries. Zuko's loyal guards hemmed them in when they could, of course, but the two royal Firebenders refused to be liabilities, protecting their crew as much as their crew protected them. At one point, Iroh even threw an entire, screaming pirate over his head, much as he'd flung one of the boulders those Earthbending soldiers had raised at him, that time when he had been captured in the hot springs a year ago.

Zuko's swift punches sent spits of fire through the air, like slingstones pelting one of Xun's marauders, a tall snarling man with several hoops in his ears. Karou barreled into the pirate, smashing his spearbutt over his head. Yumi karate-chopped another one--a woman with a swirling eelhound tattoo around her neck--in the stomach, causing her to double over in a gasp for air and pain.

They and the other Fire defenders, including the two royals, still maintained a firm position around the tower entrance. The steering-booth HAD to be protected. Not only because the two most helpless people onboard were inside, but because every mile Reeza was able to get them closer to land, the greater their chances were of being seen and aided.

***

They couldn't know that, at that moment, the steering-booth had already been breached. Vola, Key, and their pirate cohorts--a potbellied but incredibly brawny man with a scar across his nose, and a tall, fine-featured younger fighter with a deeply cruel frown--found themselves in an apparent officers' lounge. Sensing no one else in the room, they hurried to the stairwell, and clattered up the final flight to the ship's control area.

Reeza and the three guards heard them coming. Tensing in attack formation, the non-bender Fire soldiers raised their spears towards the door.

It burst open, sending one of the soldiers (who had been attempting to block it shut) flying. The largest pirate sidestepped the second guard and flung him against the wall, knocking him out. Chiko and Shur both screamed, Shur attempting to hide the child between himself and one of the large steam-pipes in the room.

Vola and Key's slithering water wrapped around the third and final guard, freezing him as they brought their hands up, breathing deeply, through glares as cold as the ice they now made. The younger pirate--quite brawny in his own right--grabbed Shur's cloak, nearly strangling the servant, and pushed him forcibly out the door.

Reeza abandoned the helm, standing with both feet planted firmly in front of Chiko, her eyes blazing. She and Vola, both silver-haired matrons of their elements, hissed pure hatred at each other.

Being an elder was by no means a requirement to cast lightning--but sometimes, the patience that came with age heightened the concentration needed for the act. By coincidence, Reeza--born only a few months after Iroh--was the one Firebender onboard besides the Dragon of the West who knew how to shoot thunderbolts.

The helmsman lunged forward, both hands extended like claws. Vola screamed in surprise as the water she was casting from her flask suddenly crackled and electrocuted her arm. Reeza's lightning blasted through it and the whole room, knocking the door off its hinges.

Vola's daughter, though, had meanwhile spotted Chiko. _Foul little ember-spawn!_ The brown-haired woman darted after the Fire child, while her elderly mother recovered. Reeza hissed again and tried to block Key, but she was assailed on both sides by the two male Earth pirates. They grabbed her by both arms, and flung her cruelly down the stairs.

Chiko cried in panic, trying to avoid the evilly-smirking younger Waterbender. The ship, now without a pilot, lurched forward as she did so. The little girl tumbled out the other, forward door of the steering-cabin, slid down the small metal platform outside... and fell straight through the gap under its adult-sized rails!

***

Zuko wasn't sure whether he heard Chiko's terrified scream first, or saw her falling, but something happened very quickly then. It was almost reflex--the young Fire Lord had never been able to figure out his sister Azula's technique for propelling herself through the air with flames, like a rocket. And yet, in that moment--suddenly he just _knew._ Zuko shot streams of fire from both hands and feet, and soared up to intercept the bundle.

Chiko's tearstained face changed to pure joy in midair. "Big Ko!!" she grinned open-mouthed at her brother, her rescuer.

"I've got you, Little Ko," Zuko smiled affectionately in return, holding Chiko tight as his robes and hair billowed all around them.

***

For as long as he lived, Iroh would thank Heaven and all the Elements that the sounds of battle had masked Chiko's scream from his slightly-more-deteriorated hearing. And that his head had been turned to face a pirate adversary in front of him, when Zuko had taken off. If the old man had seen the little girl falling first--if he had spiralled around even _one second earlier,_ and seen his third child falling to her apparent death, instead of his second child leaping up to catch her.... Iroh had no doubt at all that he would have collapsed then, either from a literal heart attack or a horrified swoon. He would have been taken out of the fight (and, likely, out of the mortal world) instantly--unable to help either of his surviving children, after already having failed the first.

As it was, he only redoubled his strength, shielding his two treasures as they landed behind him. "Chiko, _stay between us!!_ " Iroh told the little girl desperately, unable to embrace her himself because of the fight raging around them. The Dragon of the West roared mightily, blasting two huge fireballs at the pirates nearest each hand, and kicking a third for good measure.

***

Capt. Xun and his mate Jing-Sheng, at the outer fringes of the battle, had noticed this remarkable scene unfold. Almost everyone on the deck, in fact, for at least a split-second before returning to the fight, had stared at the young Fire Lord blasting himself into the air like a rocket.

Xun paused, shrugging a Fire attacker off with a violent swipe of his arm, for Jing-Sheng to deal with behind him. Perhaps the arrogant little prince had grown noble and soft, since last they saw him... noble enough to risk his life for _any_ unexpected child on the ship. But for that child to have called to Zuko in such a familiar way?! _"Big Ko?!!"_

And now, for the squatty one they called the "dragon"--the one the pirates remembered as the prince's lazy male nanny--to be moving constantly around this little girl, shielding both her and Zuko with his bulk....

"Chiko, _look out!_ " Iroh's fierce expression would invariably, suddenly, soften with panic every time one of Xun's pirates got anywhere near the child. "Be _careful,_ Bapa!" she would cry back up at him, following his stumpy legs.

Xun smirked. _Well well well... THIS was an unexpected bonus._

"Jing-Sheng. Look." The somewhat-gray pirate captain caught his black-haired cohort by the shoulder.

The scrawnier pirate squinted. "...Who is she?"

"I don't know," Xun admitted, "but our targets seem quite attached to her. Maybe a minor princess?"

Panuk, one of the big Waterbender twins, flung a Firebender aside nearby, and was soon followed by his brother. Their part in the plan was fast approaching.

"Panuk, Sigin," the pirate captain beckoned to his Water mercenaries. He cocked his head coldly at the former Fire princes, and the little girl darting back and forth behind them. "When you trap our prize hostage... try to get the kid or the fat old one too. They're bargaining chips."

The Waterbender siblings nodded gruffly, neither one being a very talkative sort. They were alike in almost every way, down to their traditional chokers and their cold gray eyes--only the random differences in their pirate tunics, and the fact that Panuk wore a goatee and Sigin was cleanshaven, set them apart.

The brothers lumbered and wove their way towards the little royal family, pushing the other Firebenders away (both with water-whips from their flasks, and with their own brawny hands) and shrugging off most attacks.

Xun chuckled maliciously. "Herd them like eelhounds, my savages," he muttered under his breath--something he would never have said if the Waterbenders had been in earshot. "Glad I ain't your enemy!"

***

The pirates in the steering-booth could see that the time was drawing near. Vola and Key's fellow Waterbenders were closing in on the former Fire princes, clearing a path between them and the waiting rail's edge. They abandoned their stations at the cockpit, barreling down the stairwell, and cruelly ignoring the sprawled forms of Shur and Reeza there.

Zuko's manservant struggled weakly. He had hit his head on the landing, but now that he had re-awoken, he found that he was thankfully not badly hurt. --He hoped the same could be said for Reeza. The silver-haired helsman was lying face-down across the steps, further up the well.

"Reeza? Reeza, wake up! Please!" Shur patted the Firebending elder's cheek fervently, tugging at her limp hand with his other one.

Reeza groaned. Her amber eyes almost immediately hardened with determination, as they flickered open. Shur's brown ones shined with relief--but then with horror, as the last of the pirates, the youngish one who had nearly strangled him earlier, came busting out of the cockpit.

Shur had always been timid. But he was not a coward. The old helmsman's grit suddenly fueled his own, and he grabbed one of the fallen guards' spears, which had been lying near them on the stairs.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!" the youngish Fire butler yelled what he imagined to be a battle-cry, and swiped at the pirate with the spear. Now it was the young marauder who screamed with pain as the sharp edge cut his arm, and as Shur then sent the blunt end smashing against his back. The fine-featured pirate tumbled down to the foot of the stairs, as unconscious as his previous victim and Reeza had been earlier.

More groans from the room above brightened Shur's features even more. _The three guards were waking up._

Maybe the tides were beginning to turn after all.

***

Those that had been paying attention may have noticed a strange pattern in the Waterbenders' attack. They were pushing aside the Firebenders most fiercely, subtly guiding them to the port side of the ship. Meanwhile, they were allowing the non-benders--easily-identified by the fact that they carried physical weapons--to stay on the starboard.

Along with the only two Firebenders they had also allowed to stay on the starboard side--the Fire Lord and his portly uncle.

Karou was one of the last they pushed aside, after the also-portly but powerful Fire captain had, to his credit, given Sigin quite a scorching.

"Captain!" Yumi had cried then, rushing to his side. She supported his head with her hand, from where he lay sprawled on the deck.

"...Yumi?" Karou smiled weakly up at the lieutenant, his dearest friend. She also smiled softly, in relief. --Then the two of them noticed that most of the pirates were leaving the deck, leaping over the side of the ship, back to their junk. _Were they RETREATING?! That seemed almost too good to be true.... What were they up to?_

The huge Waterbending twins had cornered two non-bender guards, whom they also had knocked supine on the deck-floor. They scowled mercilessly and brought up a rain of water droplets from overboard, turning them to icicle shards. Zuko, the nearest Firebender, gasped in horror. _\--Just as planned._

Valiantly, the Fire Lord sent a blast of flame slicing through the ice-needles, melting them before they could impale any member of his crew.

Chiko had stumbled after her adoptive cousin, trying to stay guarded behind his and Iroh's backs, just as Iroh had ordered her. The elder Firebender came running after the little girl, continually guarding her other side.

Vola and Key had reappeared from the tower by this time. Their few Earth allies remaining on the deck managed to shield them from the Firebenders long enough for the mother and daughter to call up a huge wave from the port-side sea. They sent it blasting over the Fire crew's heads, almost like an umbrella...

...to be caught by Panuk and Sigin, doubling its force rather than allowing it to fall in a shower. They brought the billowing wave down hard on the starboard side, catching both Zuko and the tiny Chiko within its velocity. The Fire Lord and the child (title indeterminate) were knocked instantly overboard, onto the waiting deck of the pirate junk.

Iroh yelled in dismay, as much at being left behind as at Zuko and Chiko being taken. He had already lost one of his children, years before-- _he was not ABOUT to let the other two down now!_

He had never bothered much with the "jet trick" Zuko had just now mastered, and Azula had used regularly--even at his trimmest, last summer, Iroh was far too solid a figure to fly, his muscular little body very compact. Now that he had grown back his old bellyfat (and then some) over the autumn and winter, he was even heavier. He would not be able to stay airborne for long... but perhaps the streams of flame could add a few precious extra feet to his bound.

The elder noble took a running start, focused the fire behind his fists, and _leaped_ as the junk began to pull away, his kimono billowing.

***

Jing-Sheng was back at the tiller now, swerving the pirates' junk to catch the wind and make its getaway. All the rest of the pirates onboard, besides Capt. Xun, had formed two rings, one around Zuko and one around Chiko. The marauders pointed their spears and swords mercilessly at the young lord and at the terrified little girl.

_THUD!!_

Iroh almost cracked the deck-planks where he landed, one fist on the ground, the other flung behind him, ready for action. The elderly juggernaut was now directly between the two hostage-circles and Capt. Xun.

The pirates' captain smirked arrogantly, confident that he had the tools to keep this old "dragon" at bay. He pointed his own cutlass at Iroh's back, and allowed the de-crowned Fire prince to survey the scene.

"Well well well. Come to save your ducklings, fatso? _Take a step towards one of them, and the other gets sliced up,_ " he crowed.

Iroh glared dangerously over his shoulder.

"You think I'm joking? Oh no, you're quite a valuable hostage yourself. We can afford to lose one of the others," Xun pressed. His smirk grew even more sadistic, and filled with a malicious curiosity. " _Choose,_ old man!"

Iroh's eyes met Zuko's, shining deeply. Zuko gave a barely-perceptible nod. _I KNOW you love us equally. I do not doubt you. I will never doubt you, Uncle._

The old amber irises then circled meaningfully, sending a message to the gold.

The faintest hint of a grin grew on one side of Zuko's face. His eyes traveled over to Chiko's now, reassuring the little girl.

Iroh, still rooted to the spot, breathed deeply through his nose, his chest and stomach both expanding behind his breastplate.

"Chiko?" Zuko called over to his new cousin. " _Duck._ "

RRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

The pirates screamed as the ring of fire engulfed them. Iroh's wheeling breath-attack had never come out more powerful, knocking the nearest enemies straight off their feet and overboard in its blast, and burning the others so badly that they instantly followed on their own, desperate to douse the flames.

As if to punctuate this victory, a blast of lightning suddenly shot overhead and cracked the junk's mainmast in two, is sail enveloping Jing-Sheng as it fell. The Fire vessel had swung around after them--Reeza was back at the helm.

Nearly crying in relief, Zuko and Chiko bounded into their adoptive father's arms. Iroh grabbed them both gratefully, hugging them tight. He made time, however, to shoot a meaningful glare at Xun, even as he smiled with joy. " _I choose BOTH,_ " he let the pirate captain--and the whole world--know.

_There was an old saying in the Fire Nation, from the times when nobles still killed dragons to test their skill. "To hunt an eggless dragon may be brave, or may be folly; but to hunt a dragon's brood--that is folly indeed."_

Like virtually all ships in the Fire Nation navy, Zuko's was equipped with a tall, sharp, ramming bow that doubled as a ramp when lowered. It fell open over Xun's junk now, smashing most of the deck to splinters.

_Zuko's crew had won the day._


End file.
